1.23.2014

11 Tips to Spotless Fleece Bedding for Your Guinea Pig

Article 6 of 7 from Guinea Pig 101: Fleece Bedding Guide.

How to Clean Your Guinea Pig's Fleece Bedding

One of the first questions that guinea pig owners ask upon encountering fleece bedding is, "How do you clean all this?"

At first glance, the resulting mess looks daunting. Hay, uneaten scraps of food, and a haphazard scattering of beans are strewn across the floor. The contented culprits are fast asleep, tucked into cozy nooks and hideaways. But don't let the evidence of piggy mayhem intimidate you - keeping a clean cage is easier than you'd think!

Here are a variety of ways to address the main issues: poop, hair, hay, and odor. Don't wait for your pig's living environment to turn into a cavy disaster zone - experiment to find out which methods work best for you.

Cleaning tip: use a curry comb to remove hay and hair from fleece

CLEANING TIPS

  1. To remove poops, spot clean bedding daily. A must to keep debris from accumulating! Many fleece users employ one of two methods:
    • Vacuum. Small handheld pet vacuums allow you to collect waste in hard to reach corners without sucking up the bedding.
    • Dustpan and broom. A small set is handy for sweeping debris out of the cage.

  2. Contain hay in one area instead of letting it spread out all over the cage. Suggestions: a hay rack or dedicated kitchen space.

  3. Add a litter box or kitchen area to their usual bathroom spots for easier cleaning. For example, the square of fleece that makes up my pigs' kitchen corner (see first picture) gets switched out every 2-3 days.

  4. Place small potty pads in high traffic areas, such as under pigloos or near the food bowl. Swap them out as needed for a cleaner environment.

  5. Keep a second set of bedding on hand for full cage changes.

  6. Do a full cage change every few days. How often depends on several factors, such as cage size and number of resident pigs. To give you a general idea, my pigs get a full cleaning every 5 days.

  7. Run a curry comb over the surface of the fleece to remove trapped hair. Made out of rubber, these grooming tools are sold for horses and dogs but are also great at brushing out fur.

  8. Shake out fleece to remove remaining debris.

  9. To remove odor, add 1/2-1 cup of distilled white vinegar to the bedding in the washing machine. 

  10. Add detergent and wash. Fleece only needs to be run through the wash once after the initial prewashing process. Remember not to use any fabric softener or dryer sheets!

  11. Wipe coroplast down with a 50/50 mixture of water and white vinegar to remove stubborn urine deposits.

Now you can have (nearly) spotless fleece too... until your guinea pigs get to it, of course.

Do you have any cleaning tips of your own to add? Please share below!


Sources
Guinea Pig Today - Cleaning Your Guinea Pig's Fleece Bedding
Piggy Bed Spreads - Piggy Product Care


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